Young Justice: Outsiders episode 21 preview: Unknown Factors

Aptly named, Young Justice: Outsiders episode 21, “Unknown Factors,” brings another degree of ambiguity to the forefront. But we’re still hoping for some clarification for the team’s sake.

Nearly every Young Justice: Outsiders episode focuses on a new character or a new dilemma, so we’re not sure what to expect from this week’s episode. Character hopping definitely keeps us from figuring out the rest of the season. However, that won’t stop us from speculating about and looking into the villainous dynamics on the season thus far.

The title of this week’s episode sums up our thoughts. There are a lot of unknown factors regarding the titular team, the growing number of Big Bads this season, and the many shifts in direction. Last week focused on Victor and Halo’s different crisis in conjunction with other minor arcs and villainous foreshadowing.

Knowing the Outsiders, not every ominous understory gets an immediate follow-up. So, we might have to wait a bit before we get any follow up on Victor’s new Mobius upgrades or the inevitable Judas Contract.

Even if we don’t get an update on Victor or Halo and their indirect connection with the New Gods, we hope “Unknown Factors” will progress through a more villain-focused storyline. We’ve been waiting all season to see what Darkseid’s deal is and how it connects with the Judas Contract. (Or if those two events connect at all.)

Can you blame us for our fascination with the villains? After all, Young Justice: Outsiders showrunners Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti did discuss how they concocted the perfect villain team-ups during SDCC. Weisman notes:

"There are tropes in villain teams where all the heroes really need to do a stall, because the villains will end up fighting with each other and they’ll wind up destroying their own plan because they can’t get along, and one of the very first things we both agreed on is that’s not going to be our villain team. They are going to get along very well."

Neither showrunner gives away any spoilers about the villainous plots or the nefarious code hidden right in the titles. However, from the villains apparently amicability, we can assume Deathstroke’s Judas Contract is connected with Darkseid’s plot for universal domination… and whatever else the New God might have planned.